It's cold. It's freezing. It's dark.
How does one survive? Why do we persist in this cold?
It's Minnesota and it's not July, basically.
We get by on hot food, that's how!
While I could write passionate volumes about the wonderful curry dinner my better half prepared tonight, the real impetus for today's piece is the origin for the amazing dinner. Over the past several years, the fiancée and I have been slowly but steadily expanding our palates along with our culinary capabilities. Thankfully our efforts have paid off, as we not only have enjoyed some unusual and delicious dishes as a result but her abilities as a cook have also grown beyond what I could ever have hoped. In short, I am amazed on a regular basis by what she can pull off using only our meager kitchen and pedestrian supplies. Her skill and ability is both completely a natural, ingrained trait and a signifier of what can happen when you have passion for a craft. Our meals are exquisite and confoundedly healthy. What I'm saying, in short, is I am a very lucky man and I eat like a king. Tonight's curry exceeded even my expectations and it was only possible because of one of Minneapolis' best kept secrets.
That secret?
United Noodle.
Located across the street from another mind-blowing, yet-to-be-written-about secret, Coastal Seafoods, United Noodle is an Asian Supermarket stacked to the rafters with rare, unusual and imported foodstuffs. It's the kind of place you want to simultaneously keep as a secret and scream from the rooftops. You'll find everything inside, from little imported (and awesomely/endearingly mistranslated) candies and cookies, to anything you would need to make a full on feast - squid, nori, pickled ginger, fish sauce. You see how I can start down a rambling, evangelizing path? I just start thinking about all the weird and crazy things they offer and my mind wanders. My fiancée explained it to me before I went there by saying "You could wander around for hours just looking at all the stuff and not get bored." The crazy thing? She's absolutely right. I can go in with a list of specific things to get and twenty minutes later I'm smirking at strange sodas written in Mandarin and thinking "I bet I could make a hell of a cocktail with this..."
The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful, as well. On more than one occasion we have been wandering around, searching for a specific kind of hot curry paste, and they not only help us find it but then stick with us for the rest of our list, making excellent suggestions and substitutions. Even more amazing is the fact that, despite the rare nature of the store, it is surprisingly inexpensive. For what we'd pay at a certain market for entire, or 'whole' foods, you get two or three times the amount of organic, healthy food (provided you know what you're shopping for).
United Noodle is a wonderful, hidden gem of the Twin Cities and it shouldn't be - it should be a widely recognized institution of Asian cuisine. You name it, it's there. Awesome food, courteous staff and a mind-boggling variety of palate pleasers. do yourself a favor if you're within 100 miles of the Twin Cites - head to 2015 East 24th St, in Minneapolis. Just make sure you pick up some rice balls with strawberry bean jam filling in the frozen section.
Bon appetit!
How does one survive? Why do we persist in this cold?
It's Minnesota and it's not July, basically.
We get by on hot food, that's how!
While I could write passionate volumes about the wonderful curry dinner my better half prepared tonight, the real impetus for today's piece is the origin for the amazing dinner. Over the past several years, the fiancée and I have been slowly but steadily expanding our palates along with our culinary capabilities. Thankfully our efforts have paid off, as we not only have enjoyed some unusual and delicious dishes as a result but her abilities as a cook have also grown beyond what I could ever have hoped. In short, I am amazed on a regular basis by what she can pull off using only our meager kitchen and pedestrian supplies. Her skill and ability is both completely a natural, ingrained trait and a signifier of what can happen when you have passion for a craft. Our meals are exquisite and confoundedly healthy. What I'm saying, in short, is I am a very lucky man and I eat like a king. Tonight's curry exceeded even my expectations and it was only possible because of one of Minneapolis' best kept secrets.
That secret?
United Noodle.
Located across the street from another mind-blowing, yet-to-be-written-about secret, Coastal Seafoods, United Noodle is an Asian Supermarket stacked to the rafters with rare, unusual and imported foodstuffs. It's the kind of place you want to simultaneously keep as a secret and scream from the rooftops. You'll find everything inside, from little imported (and awesomely/endearingly mistranslated) candies and cookies, to anything you would need to make a full on feast - squid, nori, pickled ginger, fish sauce. You see how I can start down a rambling, evangelizing path? I just start thinking about all the weird and crazy things they offer and my mind wanders. My fiancée explained it to me before I went there by saying "You could wander around for hours just looking at all the stuff and not get bored." The crazy thing? She's absolutely right. I can go in with a list of specific things to get and twenty minutes later I'm smirking at strange sodas written in Mandarin and thinking "I bet I could make a hell of a cocktail with this..."
The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful, as well. On more than one occasion we have been wandering around, searching for a specific kind of hot curry paste, and they not only help us find it but then stick with us for the rest of our list, making excellent suggestions and substitutions. Even more amazing is the fact that, despite the rare nature of the store, it is surprisingly inexpensive. For what we'd pay at a certain market for entire, or 'whole' foods, you get two or three times the amount of organic, healthy food (provided you know what you're shopping for).
United Noodle is a wonderful, hidden gem of the Twin Cities and it shouldn't be - it should be a widely recognized institution of Asian cuisine. You name it, it's there. Awesome food, courteous staff and a mind-boggling variety of palate pleasers. do yourself a favor if you're within 100 miles of the Twin Cites - head to 2015 East 24th St, in Minneapolis. Just make sure you pick up some rice balls with strawberry bean jam filling in the frozen section.
Bon appetit!
